Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on June 26 that he was not trying to seize power with his armed uprising at the weekend, but only protesting against the “ineffective” conduct by Russia’s military command, in his first comments since the clash came to an end.

“It was not our goal to overthrow the regime,” Prigozhin said in the voice memo, which was uploaded to his Concord Group’s Telegram page, his first comments since he left the city of Rostov on June 24. 

“We stopped at that moment, when it became clear that much blood would be spilled. That’s why we believe that the demonstration of what we were planning to do was enough. Our decision to turn back had two factors: we didn’t want to spill Russian blood. Secondly, we marched as a demonstration of our protest," he added. 

Prigozhin's whereabouts remain unknown, although reportedly under the terms of the deal he was supposed to leave for Belarus. Prigozhin was rumoured to have been spotted at the Green City hotel in Minsk on Monday, according to the Russian news channel Brief, The Guardian reports. 

Prigozhin repeated that his Wagner PMC was the “best fighting force in Russia, and it had displayed its prowess during the mutiny without intending to remove the existing regime or the legally elected government.

"We showed a master class, as it should have been on February 24, 2022. We did not have the goal of overthrowing the existing regime and the legally elected government," he said in an 11-minute audio message released on the Telegram messaging app.

Prigozhin alleged, without providing evidence, that the Russian military had attacked a Wagner camp the day before his insurrection started, resulting in the deaths of around 30 of his men. He claimed that this incident triggered what he referred to as a "march of justice" which started with the capture of Russia’s Southern Military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and led to a march on Moscow. 

Despite his claims of a bloodless insurrection, Prigozhin admitted that some Russian soldiers had died after six Russian military helicopters were downed near Rostov as well as a troop plane, killing over a dozen Russian aviators. Prigozhin said he “regretted that they were required to carry out strikes against aircraft, but they were hitting our forces with bombs and rocket strikes”

Prigozhin said his troops would resist being subsumed under the Russian defence ministry, and would not sign contracts. He also suggested that Wagner might even be allowed to continue its operations in Belarus, which some analysts point out threatens a renewed attack from the north pointed at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

The conflict arose as a result of a bitter confrontations between Prigozhin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who ordered all Wagner members to sign contracts with the regular army by July 1. Prigozhin instructed his troops to ignore Shoigu's order and instead led them over the border into Russia, eventually taking control of Rostov.

"The aim of the march was to avoid the destruction of Wagner," Prigozhin said.

Putin has not been since his televised comments at the weekend, but Shoigu reappeared on June 26 in a TV report showing him “visiting the forward command post of one of the formations of the ‘western’ group of troops”. Shoigu is shown riding in a vehicle and arriving at a command post, where he listens to reports from officers and pores over a battlefield map.

However, the video was released without sound and it was unclear when and where it was filmed. Last year after the war started, Shoigu was rumoured to have suffered a heart attack and also disappeared from view. Then footage appeared showing him at meetings, which was later shown to be fake.

Prigozhin did not provide any new details about the reported deal he struck with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. The Kremlin confirmed that the agreement included dropping a criminal case against Prigozhin and his relocation to Belarus. Prigozhin is widely expected to travel on to Africa, where Wagner has extensive military operations and resources.

Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated the same day that the Kremlin intends to continue working with Wagner in Africa where it has considerable influence.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of Russia's Wagner mercenary group in St Petersburg stated that it was operating in "normal mode" and within the law. The Wagner administration expressed gratitude to its supporters, claiming to have worked for the future of Russia. Despite Putin's condemnation of the mutiny as "treason" and his warning of a civil war, reports indicated that some of the group's offices across Russia were still recruiting fighters.

Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin calling the Wagner mutiny "treason" and warning of civil war in a televised address on June 24, Russian media reported that Wagner recruitment had resumed in Novosibirsk and Tyumen.

Lavrov confirmed in an interview with RT that Wagner members would continue their operations in Mali and the Central African Republic, where Wagner members "are working there as instructors. This work, of course, will continue," Lavrov said. Several embattled African governments have turned to Wagner to help put down rebel groups and maintain their hold on power.

Lavrov criticised Europe, particularly France, for allegedly abandoning these African countries, leading them to seek assistance from Russia and Wagner to provide military instructors and ensure the security of their leaders.

Western powers have accused the Wagner group of promoting Russia's influence abroad, as well as engaging in torture and exploiting natural resources.

Lavrov said during the interview that the rebellion by Prigozhin would not have any impact on Russia's relations with its allies.

"There have been many calls (from foreign partners) to President (Vladimir) Putin... to express their support," he said.

Asked if there could be any changes to Russia's international relations as a result, Lavrov said: "With partners and friends, no. As for the others, frankly, I don't care. Relations between the collective West and us have been destroyed."